The ghost of a smile
by TheWolvenArcher
Summary: Ereri oneshot. Eren is missing something and he can't tell what it is or why he feels like he's missing it. Rated T for mention of death. Set after the defeat of the titans where ereri is Canon and they're married. No nsfw here. Requested by daydreamer234. Levi is less alive then I would like him to be I'm sorry. Hanji is mentioned.


Hey! This is an Ereri one shot requested by daydreamer234, it's after the defeat of the titans and ereri tied the knot. However it does mention a death(its snk come on guys). Just saying. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own Attack on Titan/Shingeki No Kyojin. If I did, a lot of people would still be alive.

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Eren was met with the blank ceiling of his once shared bedroom and a distinct lack of warmth beside him, as well as a lack of sound where there would have been the familiar song of Levi cleaning up the counters and rooms from whatever he deemed had dirtied them during the night. His chest ached. He sighed and sat up, the sheets softly rustling as he swung his legs to the side, out of habit pulling the blanket with him so he could make the bed again. Once the sheets were neatly put back in place he headed towards the kitchen. He wasn't hungry. There was the lack of a broom sweeping up miniscule crumbs or specks of dust. Or scrubbing walls from whatever invisible bacteria Levi decided Hanji had planted as they slept. There was a lack of a warm smell from the kitchen where Levi wouldn't let him enter until everything was already done, food already made and everything cleaned. His chest ached.

He looked in the mirror as he passed the kitchen, something was missing. Maybe it was just him. His face was pale and his hair was matted, tussled from his sleep. He had light circles under his eyes and he snorted. He was taking after Levi a bit in that sense. Maybe it was his eyes- the foxfire had burned down, it seemed duller. That didn't made sense, they were always this green. Always this shade, this hue, this hex. Something else then. He sighed again, deeply, letting out the stale air from his lungs, that lacked the laughter Levi's morning antics with Hanji usually brought. The scientist liked to come over uninvited. His feet made their way up stairs without Eren even realizing and before he knew it he was in the attic. It was gathering a thin layer of dust. He'd have to clean up here. Maybe later.

There weren't skeletons in Eren's closet, but there were a few ghosts in his attic. Speaking of ghosts, he turned seeing the pictures hung up on the wall, pinned down and cherished. They were of him, him and Levi. Of their wedding, the survey corps had a celebration. A little one, nothing too big. They had gone to see the ocean as their honeymoon, Levi had said Armin and Mikasa could come because Eren had a promise to fulfill, they were Levi's family too now. One was of them, sitting together at the head table after their wedding. They had worn white suits, Levi had groaned about getting them dirty all day, and Krista had picked out flowers that they wore as flower crowns. Levi had taken some persuading. His chest ached. Other pictures spanned the wall, them on the beach, in the mess hall, with the squad and even after the last titan fell. Levi looked so tired in the last one, but it was there. The little ghost.

In each picture that little ghost sat there and Eren finally realized what was missing. His own ghost twitched back onto his lips, a little smile that sparked something hopeful and sad inside him. The last picture. They were outside of wall Maria, steam still rising from the last titans and some still stained on their uniforms, they were battered and bruised but they all huddled together and grinned. Eren remembered, it was the hardest he'd ever smiled and his cheeks hurt from the memory. His chest ached.

After the last battle and a few months after their wedding Levi got more silent than usual. He did pass away, almost a year later, with his own ghost on his lips. Hanji covered their pain by joking about it. She'd said that, since humanity was safe, since the titans were dead. Humanity's strongest's goal was achieved. His chest hurt.

Eren looked over the pictures and before he knew it tears were spilling from his eyes, hitting the dusty floor and muffled hiccups escaped him. That's what was missing. Levi's ghost.

Levi's smile. He missed Levi's smile.

It was always there, always. But it was gone now, his chest hurt so much. Pictures couldn't show how Levi's eyes sparkled when he smiled, even if his mouth remained the same. They only showed one full smile, where his mouth was uplifted and he was smiling, his ears red and a healing cut on his cheek from the fight. But it was there. Their wedding. His chest hurt a little less. Levi's smile might have been a ghost. But that just meant it hovered at his shoulder when he needed it. Eren plucked the picture from the wall and slipped it into his chest pocket. Levi was still there.


End file.
